MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Had Kiev and the West implemented the Minsk Agreements, things would eventually have "worked out" in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Defense Ministry board.

"Had the Ukrainian authorities and their Western sponsors made it happen, implementing those accords, I truly do believe that things would gradually have worked out," he noted, addressing a board meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry.

According to Putin, the Donbass issue emerged after Crimea was reunited with Russia in 2014. "You know, we calmly tried to make agreements. In fact, we were ready to gradually restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity on certain terms enshrined in the Minsk Agreements, which would have applied to Donbass," the president said. He emphasized that there had been certain conditions that could have made it possible to avoid endangering the lives of people living in the region, while ensuring security guarantees. "This was the essence of the Minsk Agreements," the Russian head of state stressed.